Over-50

Incidentally, We Members of the Mickey Mouse Club Didn't Care About Who Walt Disney Really Was

M-i-c-k-e-y M-o-u-s-e. 

Poof. The iconic Disney logo can be eliminated from popular culture.

Deadline reports there is growing scrutiny of Disney's founder Walt Disney.

He was an obviously flawed human being. In fact, on speeches I had created on leadership for chief executive officers I leveraged his attitudes about his workforce as negatives. For example, he couldn't understand why employees would want higher compensation. After all, went his thinking, weren't they fortunate to be part of his team. In addition, he was in no way the kind of verbally polished leader of today. The undertow of his messaging signaled prejudice.

But that was then. A different time. Entrepreneurs, be they Disney or Henry Ford, could operate by their own rules. 

Today, Bob Iger, by so many current metrics, scores high on leadership. His memoir "The Ride of a Lifetime" captures his ethos of deep caring, especially of all the humans in the loop. They range from employees to consumers. 

On Glassdoor, the overall rating for working at Disney is "4" out of a possible "5."

After retiring from the job of chief executive officer, Iger parachuted back in when the business of Disney became troubled. 

Actually, as I argue in this article, Disney seems stuck. But that's a strategic matter, not a cultural one. Iger has a big job ahead of him.

That, unfortunately, will likely include the struggle to preserve the Disney logo. The founder's flaws have tainted the essence of what Mickey Mouse meant to generations. Part of that was the extreme power of creativity. 

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The Future of Work: Pay to Play Could Become Standard (especially for over-50)

On its website, Rooftop Slushie describes itself as platform in which job searchers can anonymously ask questions about careers and seasoned professionals, who have been vetted, answer them.

One of the categories on the website does indicate that the latter can earn money doing this. Well, since career experts and executive coaches bill all the time for such help, the transaction seems benign.

However, Business Insider picks up on the possible undercurrent of lousy ethics. The media outlet portrays the platform as really about "selling" job referrals for $20 to $50 each. Those interested in applying for a job at the tech giants, especially Facebook and Google, present themselves anonymously to those employed at those corporations. The professional vets them, if appropriate makes a referral, and then makes a few bucks on the side.

Business Insider observes that some experts in the job-hunt niche have ethical concerns about this kind of transaction. 

In addition, some might wonder why do employees in major tech corporations, who likely earn better than average compensation, engage in this process? Doesn't that raise a red flag about how much clout they have in their sector? 

On the other hand, there are myriad digital sites oriented toward seeking work that are essentially pay to play.

One is LinkedIn ProFinder. That platform operates like this. Freelancers, including those searching for public relations assignments, sign up for the version of Premium which offers access to ProFinder. The cost is $59.99 a month, with a discount for an annual subscription. Cancellation with full refund is possible for 60 days. Note that it's the freelancer, not those hiring, who ponies up the fee. This is very different from the executive search business. 

After signing up, what LinkedIn assesses as appropriate opportunities appear in the LinkedIn inbox. During that month, the freelancer can provide a proposal for 10. The prospect may or may not respond. Along with the ability to submit proposals the subscriber has other benefits such as contacting 15 LinkedIn members whose profile is behind the Premium wall. 

Another pay-to-play platform is Upwork. It also charges the freelance the fee. For billings under $500, that will be 20% of the revenue. But that goes down to 5% for a lifetime when billings reach $10,000.

The problem with Upwork is that it's a global platform. In bidding for assignments, the U.S. ghostwriter could be competing with a communications expert in India who is willing to accept considerably less. 

Ethics?

For those who are ambitious to land a good job in a brandname corporation and for those who need freelance work to keep a roof over their heads, the issue of ethics may seem irrelevant. To those analyzing that dynamic it could be assessed as exploitation.

Meanwhile, as The New York Times detailed, the second wave of COVID-19 layoffs hit white collar workers hard. Many have been unable to land comparable jobs or even freelance assignments. Their professional lives are in limbo. Given that the worst might not have kicked off in COVID-19, they may be in limbo for years. To them pay to play might not seem reprehensible. 

Actually, pay to play could be the salvation of the over-50. ProPublica research hammered that they are likely to be forced out of those good jobs. Also, if they are hired for another job, the odds are that only one in 10 of them will earn comparable income. 

A useful guide for the hunt for work is "What Color Is Your Parachute?" It points out that those who are hired are not necessarily the best at what they do. Their edge is that they become the best at marketing themselves. Each year a new version is published. Multiple copies are available at the public library. Amazon sells used ones. 

No surprise, more media outlets are chatting up Universal Basic Income (UBI). One way of describing that concept is this: Those opting out of work receive a monthly strings-fee stipend. They can apply those funds to paying the rent and/or financing their art. 

The Future of Work may be less and less work available. Pay to play may become standard, configured to pass ethical and legal muster.

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How Did We Get Here? - Mostly, Painfully

These times mirror those of the Counterculture. During revolutions many hold as sacred the belief that they are held to a higher code of law, not the conventional one. 

So, it is no surprise, as Law.com reports, that Colinford Mattis has plenty of supporters. They spoke up during the conference call which was how his arraignment had been conducted. He took a plea of not guilty to 7 counts.

Laypeople who aren't sophisticated in legal matters know that he is accused of being in the loop of a Molotov Cocktail being thrown during a George Floyd protest.

In addition, there had been an open letter from the New York Law University on June 17th in support of him. Mattis is a 2016 alumnus of that law school. 

However, the compassion for his alleged form of response to a system he might have perceived as racist (he is a man of color) is not universal. On social networks I have received push-back. I shared my understanding of how such anger could build up and then burst through safety valves. 

The wrench in the works of supporting Mattis is this: Civil disobedience is supposed to be non-violent.

Back in the Counterculture, we had joined hands, marched, and sang "We Shall Overcome" during the human rights movements of the early 1970. We didn't condone those who had thrown rocks through the windows of the Ann Arbor, Michigan banks surrounding the University of Michigan campus. We tutored our parents in what we considered was right thinking. We dragged our younger siblings along to D.C. on protest trains.

Nobody has to condone Mattis' alleged act of violence. But attention must be paid to what a man of color might have endured jumping through the hoops he had. Those range from matriculating in the Ivy League to being an associate at an elite law firm.

A female from an immigrant ghetto in Jersey City, New Jersey during the vestiges of the Frank Hague Machine, I felt like a novelty in a circus. It was palpable, at least to me. I experienced being watched as I struggled to navigate doctoral studies at the U of M, first year at Harvard Law, and being an executive ghostwriter/speechwriter for the Fortune 100. Therapists told me that I was very angry.

I call that phenomenon The Curse of Opportunity.

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When It Was Smart to Anglicize Your Name

Anglicizing a last name used to be an economic survival move. 

Back in the early 1950s, on the Hudson County, New Jersey docks, my maternal uncle Frank Miksza did just that.

It wasn't until I read my grandfather's obituary in the Jersey Journal that I found out that Uncle Frankie was going by the name Frank Mitchell. And, at the time, Mitchell was a big boss on the docks, overseeing many who were unloading ships. 

That was then.

Now, as the Daily Mail reports, the statement a professor at Laney College, Oakland, California, made to a student from Viet Nam about anglicizing her name resulted in his suspension. The professor is Matthew Hubbard. The student is Phuc Bui Diem Nguyen. 

Incidentally, the Daily Mail headline got it wrong. It indicates the Hubbard demanded the change. Rather, in an email he phrased it as "Could you …" 

His was a recommendation. It was based on a reality of language. When pronounced, the name sounded like that of an American English expletive. Could that have damaged her personal brand? Maybe.

The student took offense. Unfortunately, the professor persisted. He should have stopped there. She responded to Hubbard that she was going to file a Title IX complaint. 

Right now, Hubbard is on suspension.

In the play "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, there is that iconic line: "What's in a name?"

Well, in reality, plenty. Obviously, it's a hot button in 2020.

To me, in 2001, after my industry collapsed after 9/11, it was a shot at a comeback.

Back then, I took a page from my uncle's playbook. I changed my first name from the very Catholic, very ethnic, way too cute "Mary Jane" to "Jane." On that platform, I found it easier to build a new business. I have no way of knowing, of course, how much the name change did or did not have to do with my eventual new success.

Yes, the shift was small or it seemed small to me. Yet, lots of folks pushed back. They insisted I had no "right" to inconvenience the world by forcing them to adapt to my new identity. Ironically, one relative on the maternal side persisted in calling me "Mary Jane." 

Reflection: Name changing carries plenty of economic, political, and social baggage. Beware.

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Ok, Boomer Counterculture Activists Look at Current Brands of Protest

Again, a nation is convulsed in protest.

But this time it's significantly different from how we the Ok, Boomer counterculture activists opposed the Viet Nam War, alleged university admissions bias against blacks, and how females were socialized. 

The Wall Street Journal interviews some of us from back then.

Overall, it seems we are hopeful that a new world order is being born, especially in full equality for blacks and the softening of capitalism. We are also impressed by the diversity of participants.

Our concerns include:

Violence. Essentially we embraced the peaceful protest model of Gandhi and King. Sure, some bank windows were broken but in general we marched, sat in, and left property alone. Some of us had witnessed the urban riots, with looting, of 1967. We wanted no part of those.

No clear agenda. We knew exactly what changes were needed. Our initiatives included concrete targets, such as a percentage of blacks who should be admitted to the University of Michigan by X or Y date. Current protestors don't seem certain about solutions. Certainty is a power platform during a revolution. And, it's necessary, even if the thinking is flawed.

Lack of centralized spiritual leadership. Depending on where we were on the continuum of protest our spiritual leader had been either King or Malcolm X. So much of the inspiration for the movement came from churches, ranging from Southern Baptists to Roman Catholic. Regarding the latter, nuns were being arrested for protesting.

Meanwhile, the Ok, Boomer wishes there would be more focus on eliminating all forms of ageism.

By now, given the extreme cult of youth in the U.S., many of us are "invisible" in society.

ProPublica documented that once over-50 the majority of us will be forced out of our jobs. The odds are only 10 percent that the next one we land (if we do indeed latch onto another) will pay comparable salary. 

And is COVID-19 triage leaving us to die?

Time is finite. We human beings have to choose our causes. I have cherry picked combating ageism as mine. Unfortunately, that doesn't have star power as an issue.

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on human resources and careers.

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The special area of expertise is the displaced over-50 professional. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

It's Becoming Okay Again Not to Be Wealthy

Once golden, publishing empire Conde Nast has become a symbol of what are now labeled Un-American values - or of values which should be Un-American.

In this case, it's the ethos of exclusion.

To consider oneself a member of the Conde Nast "tribe" you had to enjoy elite tastes. Yes, you read Bon Appetit. You looked to Anna Wintour for guidance on fashion. You were probably even invited to the Vanity Fair Academy Awards party.

Slowly and currently very very rapidly the culture of inclusion is replacing that sense of specialness. The New York Times asks if Conde Nast can survive the new order.

However, it isn't only in the values sandbox that Conde Nast struggles. Like so many with a print legacy it can't get its footing in a digital world. In 2017, it lost $120 million and financially things haven't gotten much better since. Folio calls it "Paradise Publishing Lost."

Meanwhile, Wintour personally keeps taking it on the chin for not being a kind human being. During another era of upheaval - the Industrial Age - novelist Charles Dickens declared it was only the Milk of Human Kindness which could get society through all that. It seems America is taking that to heart. Even help-wanted ads are specifying that only nice people apply. 

It's unlikely that Conde Nast and its leadership such as Wintour can retrofit themselves, at least not fast enough, to be relevant in the new order.

Influence has shifted to social networks such as LinkedIn Updates, Twitter, and Instagram. And those, instead of being controlled by publishers and editors as at Conde Nast, are totally open.

Some of us who were on the front lines of the early 1970s counterculture see myriad parallels between 2020 and then. Society broke open.

The Boston Women's Health Book Collective let us know that we females were all beautiful. Its manifesto had been the publication "Our Bodies, Ourselves." Finally, women could love themselves in the body they were born with.  

In the emerging culture of inclusion we can love ourselves even if we're not wealthy. In some circles minimalism is catching on. That contentment with what one has is replacing the hunger for more. 

Be a Post COVID-19 winner. Exactly the right positioning and packaging for your messaging. Complimentary consultation for what you need for strategy, research, ghostwriting, and editing janegenova374@gmail.com.

In a Time Before Leases

"So, far, 24 states are now processing evictions again, and that number is expected to climb to at 30 states by the end of June." - Michael Braga, USA Today, June 10, 2020.

In capitalism, housing, though an essential service, is not provided free. Real estate is a business.

As a lawsuit against Andrew Cuomo by those in the Westchester County, New York real estate loop contended, rent must be paid on time in order for the businesspeople to pay their own bills. They oppose Cuomo's extension of the moratorium on payments.

Here in the Midwest, where values are less harsh than along the Northeast Corridor, the property manager in my residential complex sent out this notice: Rent is expected. In full. On time. When that doesn't happen there will be tacked on a 5% interest rate. Special circumstances? The heart is a lonely hunter.

Sure, there is growing push-back against current capitalism. The survey by Harris and Just Capital, reports BusinessInsider, found that only 25% of those responding supported American capitalism as it is. The rest want it to be reformed to serve better the public good. 

But, for now, evictions should be widespread. Even those protected by the CARES Act will be on their own to pony up the rent after July 25th.

Those evictions could become the symbol of what COVID-19 did to society. History could use that as a platform to capture the human suffering - beyond being infected by the disease itself. 

During The Great Depression, what defined the era were symbols of unemployment. 

That was a different time.

You could be jobless and still have a roof over your head. Terms and conditions for rentals were loosey goosey. As long as the rent was paid on time, property owners didn't do a count on how many human beings piled into apartments. Hot beds were standard. 

My grandparents' railroad flat in downtown Jersey City, New Jersey provided shelter, on and off, to their own five adult children and spouses. (No grandchildren. Reproduction was on hold.) Relatives arriving from the Old Country also could bunk inside the third-floor cold-water walkup until they got their footing. Privacy was not expected. Handing over your pay envelope, when you did find work, was. Families got through that.

Not so easy now. Rentals have become highly legalistic. Those leases can run five or six pages. 

Currently, housing more than the number of people on the lease risks being tossed out. I bore witness to that among those leasing efficiency apartments in Tucson, Arizona. No new babies were allowed.

That family could wind up in  a rental market where it's increasingly difficult to find affordable anything.

For instance, lose that under-market-rate apartment and you are not likely to land another one.

In addition, overall it's Landlord Nation. Even those who have the resources to pony up the rent in full and on time are cautious about conforming with the property owner's rules. In some states, such as AZ, leases don't have to be renewed and no reason has to be provided. Moving is inconvenient and expensive. Yes, even the middle-class renter lives in fear.

When history tells the COVID-19 story, capitalism might already be in the middle stages of reform. Those in 2050 might be astounded how easy it had been during the pandemic to wind up without a home. There are bound to be poignant photos and videos of families, including children and pets, tenting on a sidewalk.

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Growing Up on the Mean But Safe Streets of (pre-gentrified) Jersey City, New Jersey

The Minneapolis City Council has already taken  the step to abolish the official police department.

Meanwhile, in New York City, mayor Bill de Blasio announced he is cutting $6 billion from the NYPD budget. That will be redistributed in social services and youth programming. 

That's what is happening in the real-life law enforcement landscape. Similar developments are expected throughout America.

Simultaneously, in the alternate world of entertainment, change already is underway.

Executive producer Warren Leight of the longest running network TV crime drama "Law & Order SVU" said that future programming would feature George Floyd issues. Those include police brutality.

Likely the scripting of other popular network television programming will also change.

On "Chicago PD," Hank Voigt might not be able to play so fast and loose with the rules. And, on "Blue Bloods" will Jamie Reagan, Harvard Law alumnus, still be so proud to be in the NYPD? A pall also could be cast over related type programming such FBI this and that and Justice kind of shows. "Criminal Minds," some will recall, hadn't been renewed for another season.

All this could be the tipping point for reimaging how a society goes about the traditional functions of a police department. They are:

•  Maintaining public order and safety
•  Enforcing the law
•  Preventing crime
•  Investigating crime. 

Meanwhile, in New York City, shootings and murders were up last week.

Over the decades in America, neighborhoods and groups have experimented with their own versions of policing.

One example had been the homemade law & order of urban areas in which power structures made the rules. That had been standard on the mean streets of Jersey City, New Jersey in the 1950s.

Park your car in front of my house or where I had shoveled the snow and your windshield would be smashed. Another kind had been implemented by rogue social orders such as the Sopranos.

Some of us who came of age in those kinds of systems saw value in them. We still do.

The rules were clear. Obey them and there was a sense of safety, despite the rawness of the environment. The police were not perceived as our friend. Whom we depended on were the neighborhood watchdogs. They cared. In addition, their reach had been profound. Need to get grandma into a charity nursing home? They got that done.  

Think tanks and government policy makers will have to focus on if and how to phase out formal police departments. During that transition respect for law could tank.

On an individual level, will citizens be figuring out how to handle threats on their own, without contacting 911? Could that be the tipping point for resurrecting the Wild West ethos of self-defense, on one's own terms?

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OK, Boomer Reaches Back to Summer of 1967, Counterculture

No surprise, urban unrest has broken out post the George Floyd death. That has spread from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, reports Daily Mail.

Meanwhile the summer has kicked off unusually warm in certain parts of the U.S.

There is also economic despair. Homelessness will surge when folks can't pony up the June rent.

OK, Boomers recall the Summer of 1967.

Cities went up in flames.

Police headquarters were attacked.

The mindset of the front lines of protestors was: We have nothing to lose.

Fear just wasn't in play for them. 

Interestingly, what followed was the Counterculture, a peace and love movement embedded with socialism. There was even a challenge to the legal notion of private property. Abby Hoffman published a manifesto through "Steal This Book."

Coops sprung up to provide low cost whatever to The People.

There were free clinics, for both physical and mental problems.

Careerism was challenged. Yes, certain ideologies encouraged dropping out.

The second wave of feminism seeped into the culture. 

Many OK, Boomers changed. Some, of course, did not. The ones who didn't were on university campuses, tactical bases for spreading the Counterculture message, in schools of business.

Then a severe economic recession swept over the land. The Counterculture itself became an anachronism.

But there remained a vestige of belief in the ability of The People to change the system.

Ralph Nader effectively implanted the consumer revolution. That shifted the legal system to protection and the regulatory one to punishment. Suing became a tool of The People. Today The People include the plaintiffs in the gender lawsuit "Tolton, et al. v. Jones Day." The one-time cowering masses learned about "rights."

Affirmative Action was institutionalized.

Both The Pill and legal abortion freed sexual mores from Puritanism.

Can that kind of scenario become the game-changer again in America:

Urban violence

A New Mindset

Socialistic institutions

Law for The People

Extreme careerism takes a hit

Hedonism (after so much suffering)?

Meanwhile, the legal sector awaits its 2020 version of the Nader Revolution. Jobless members of the JD Class of 2020, laid off associates, and partners forced into early retirement might decide to have a crack at a New Legal Deal for Everyman and Everywoman.

Amazingly, elite law firm Paul, Weiss has been an early adopter in equipping The People with what they need to navigate COVID-19. The Paul, Weiss chairman Brad Weiss organized a posse of pro-bono lawyers to establish the unique Coronavirus Relief Center.

In April, Paul, Weiss also established the Sustainability and Environmental, Social, and Governance Advisory Practice. That embodies the Triple Bottom Line of the new capitalism. That is, business operating not just in the pursuit of profit, but also on behalf of the people and the planet. 

Paul, Weiss can evolve into a symbol of emerging ethos of self-empowerment. 

And, We OK, Boomers can emotionally, socially, financially, and spiritually time travel back to a more simple and more humane time. We no longer have to be only our work - and only our private property. 

The new order post-COVID-19 being predicted by thought leaders such as Henry Kissinger is really the old order of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

In marketing timing is everything. Complimentary consultation on your marketing communications in COVID-19 time. janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Alleged Age Bias in Year of COVID-19

Some contend age bias is the last violation of diversity that society, including employers, can get away with. After all, aging frequently entails becoming "invisible."

In MarketWatch, the New School's Teresa Ghilarducci estimates that 20% of those over-50 will lose their jobs during the economic disruption of COVID-19. For one thing, their high compensation puts a target on their backs. For another, there are those ugly assumptions that they can't keep up with tech and will run up too much expense on the employer's medical insurance premiums. 

But, former IT professional Mark Kanyuk is pushing back, reports Law.com. On Thursday, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, he filed "Mark Kanyuk v. Sheraman & Sterling." Here is a copy of the complaint. Among other allegations, plaintiff contends his termination constitutes a violation of New York State and New York City Human Rights Law. He is represented by law firm Joseph & Kirschenbaum.

The back story on this is that Sheraman & Sterling claim he was terminated on April 15th, after decades on the job, because of alleged unethical behavior. That, they contend, was taking kickbacks from vendors. That is, he was fired for cause. He denies that. 

Instead, he positions his termination as a kind of stealth layoff. He also claims there were other layoffs at the law firm, which the defendant denies. 

The work world a terminated older worker enters, even if not for cause, is not pretty. For example, Pro Publica found only one in 10 will ever earn comparable money. 

In coaching displaced professionals over-50, the toughest nut has been to discourage them from attempting to replicate the past - in everything from title status to compensation. They can rebuild a way to make a good living. Only it will likely not be as good as it had been. Here, free to click open, is my guide on how to land, hold, and move on to better work, no matter what your age Download Outwitting ageism.

However, this is indeed the phenomenon of the late bloomer. University of Chicago researcher David Galenson documented that in his iconic book "Old Masters and Young Geniuses."

On the one hand, there are the Mozarts. At a young age they recognize what their talent is and have the methodology and confidence to leverage it. 

On the other hand, there are the Alfred Hitchcocks who need to keep experimenting until they can put together their methods and their self-assurance. 

Being knocked out of the traditional job box can provide the aging the unique platform to explore what their true edge might be. Actress Betty White, now in her 90s, found big-time fame in being an advocate for the aging. Previously she had been in the shadow of giants such as Mary Tyler Moore.

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on human resources and careers.

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The special area of expertise is the displaced over-50 professional. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.